(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera system which electronically stores an image of an object and displays the image on a display monitor.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Generally, to achieve an adequately high level of resolution of an image captured by using a digital camera or a video camera, it is necessary to use a zoom-up function of the camera or move the camera close to an object to be imaged. This makes it difficult to obtain an image covering a wide angle related to the object. To capture an image covering a wide angle related to the object, it is necessary to use a zoom-down function of the camera or move the camera away from the object. However, this makes it difficult to obtain an image with a high level of resolution.
In order to obtain a wide-angle image with a high resolution from an object, a divisional shooting method has been proposed. In the divisional shooting method, a plurality of partially overlapping images are successively shot so as to cover a wide angle related to the object, and they are synthesized to create a composite image with an adequate level of resolution.
As disclosed in Japanese Published Utility Model Application No. 8-4783, an image processing device which is capable of combining a plurality of partially overlapping images together to create a composite image is known.
To effectively carry out the divisional shooting method, it is necessary that, after a preceding image is taken and before a current image is taken, the user stop movement of an optical axis of the camera at an appropriate position where an overlapping portion of the two adjacent images is appropriate for subsequently producing a composite image from the images. However, in order to meet this requirement, a conventional digital camera requires a special adapter. If such an adapter is not used, it is difficult for the conventional digital camera to effectively carry out the divisional shooting method. In a case of the conventional digital camera with no special adapter, there is a possibility that no overlapping portion exists between the two adjacent images or a too large overlapping portion be produced between the two adjacent images. If the overlapping images with undesired overlapping portions are obtained through the divisional shooting method, it is difficult to effectively combine or synthesize the images together to create a composite image.